John McCain taunted workers at an AFL-CIO meeting who were concerned that immigration tends to depress wages in the US.

Just watch. It is a perfect example of some of the many things that are wrong with McCain:

He is completely out of touch with the working man and knows nothing about the economy.

He has no impulse control and doesn’t think before he speaks.

He is downright stupid.

Can you imagine the danger in sending this unstable hothead on a state visit to a foreign country? “I challenge you to start a war with us. You couldn’t do it.”

Update (8/28/08): With impecable timing for this post, another brilliant Phil Gramm moment with one of McCain’s health advisors. Everyone has health coverage because they can go to the emergency room. Didn’t ya know? It’s getting exhausting keeping track of these knuckleheads.

The Department of Labor reported today that the Producer Price Index rose 1.2% in July on the heels of jumps over 1% in each of the prior two months. For those keeping track, wholesale prices have risen 4.4% in the last three months (and 9.2% in the past year).

These price increases get passed along to the consumer, of course.

There are a number of explanations for why this is happening, but the biggest one, in my mind, is the weak dollar policy of the Federal Reserve. There is simply too much money circulating right now. The more they put out there, the less it is worth. The Fed must soon start to hike interest rates to prevent an inflationary spiral.

The Fed has done a good job so far with the economic crisis, but there must be balance between growth and inflation.

The Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index rose .8% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, double what was expected. This figure helped raise consumer prices from July of 2007 through July of 2008 by a total of 5.6%.

This is the biggest increase in 17 years.

Other good news announced today:

New claims for jobless benefits were higher than anticipated at 450,000 and wages have decreased. From a story by Shobhana Chandra on Bloomberg:

Today’s figures also showed wages decreased 0.8 percent after adjusting for inflation following a 0.9 percent drop in June. They were down 3.1 percent over the last 12 months, the biggest year-over-year decline since 1990. The drop in buying power is one reason economists forecast consumer spending will slow.

And so it continues: higher prices, lower wages, rising unemployment. Anyone who tells you this is over soon is a liar or a fool.

This actually happened on Friday, but I didn’t get around to reading it until today. The Wall Street Journal, as conservative an editorial page as there is, actually praised Barack Obama for his strong dollar statements at a town hall forum in Ohio. Quoth the Journal:

This ought to be a bigger story. In linking the dollar to oil prices, Mr. Obama is pointedly at odds with the Bush Administration and Federal Reserve, both of which blame high commodity prices on supply and demand, despite falling demand due to slower global growth. Fed officials — in particular, Vice Chairman Donald Kohn — have expressly rejected any strong link between the dollar’s collapse and the oil price surge since last August.

This conveniently absolves the Fed and Bush Treasury of responsibility for the consequences of what has been their destructive and all but explicit dollar devaluation strategy. If the Illinois Senator rejects greenback debasement, that’s the best news to date about Obamanomics.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement but, considering the source, high praise indeed. For what it’s worth, Obama and the Journal are right. Bernanke has done a good job thus far containing the Housing Crisis/Credit Crunch, but inflation is on the march, and it’s spreading around the globe (despite the recent decline in the price of oil). It’s soon time for him to begin hiking rates. This will help control prices and help Bernanke find balance in fighting the many ills afflicting our economy.

In any case, maybe the Wall Street Journal has begun to see that Obama is this country’s best bet for the future. It is frightening to think of the impulsive and disorganized John McCain in charge of the world’s largest economy. I imagine the editors of the Wall Street Journal must sometimes realize that same fear.